Francis
Thomas (Tom) Bacon (1904-1992)

Francis Thomas Bacon was born in 1904, Billericay,
Essex, UK. British engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen-oxygen
fuel cells, which convert air and
fuel directly into electricity through electrochemical processes. A graduate of
Eton College and of Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1925; M.A., 1946), Bacon became
intrigued with fuel cells while working for the electrical company C.A. Parsons
& Co. Ltd. in Newcastle-on-Tyne (1925-40). Although
Sir William Grove had discovered the principle
of fuel cells in 1842, they were considered a scientific curiosity until the early
1940s, when Bacon, then working at King's College, Cambridge, proposed their use
in submarines.

Francis Thomas Bacon began experimenting with alkali electrolytes
in the late 1930s, settling on potassium hydroxide (KOH) instead of using
the acid electrolytes known since Grove's early discoveries. KOH performed
as well as acid electrolytes and was not as corrosive to the electrodes.
Bacon's cell also used porous "gas-diffusion electrodes" rather than solid
electrodes as Grove had used. Gas-diffusion electrodes increased the surface
area in which the reaction between the electrode, the electrolyte and the
fuel occurs.

Also, Bacon used pressurized gases to keep the
electrolyte from "flooding" the tiny pores in the electrodes. Over the course of
the following twenty years, Bacon made enough progress with the alkali cell to present
large scale demonstrations. He continued his research with the Anti-submarine Experimental
Establishment, then returned to Cambridge (1946), where he demonstrated a successful
six-kilowatt fuel cell (1959). The first practical application of this high-efficiency,
pollution-free technology was in the Apollo space vehicles of the United States,
which used the alkaline fuel cells to provide in-flight power, heat, and clean drinking
water, a by-product of the electrochemical
reaction.

Bacon sought new applications for fuel cells as
a principal consultant to National Research Development Corp. (1956-62), Energy
Conservation Ltd. (1962-71), and U.K. Atomic Energy Authority (1971-73). By the
end of the century, the technology was being developed internationally. He was made
an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1967), elected a fellow of the Royal
Society (1973), and awarded the first Grove Medal (1991).